After more than thirty years, IBM has announced the cessation of its operations at its historic headquarters in the numbers 26-28 of Santa Hortensia street. This initiative is part of a new business strategy that seeks to establish an important change of headquarters that will revolutionize the office market in the capital.
The IBM building in Santa Hortensia has more than 50,000 square meters spread over 10 floors, located between Avenida de América and Calle Corazón de María, close to the M-30. Built in 1989, it is considered one of the seven largest buildings in Madrid, as it also has 13 lifts and almost 950 parking spaces on the three lower floors.
The Spanish promoter Colonial will now take over the future of the building, which will leave IBM in 2024. From that moment, it will be given a mixed functionality of offices and homes. However, the sale of the Santa Hortensia building by Colonial comes hand in hand with a new headquarters for the North American technology company.
The future of IBM in the Azca financial district
IBM already has everything ready to move its offices from Madrid to Pablo Ruiz Picasso building (former Sollube building)in it Azca financial districttrusting the Spanish real estate Marline Properties to carry out the transfer of its Spanish headquarters. The Azca financial district has almost 500,000 square meters of offices, where more than 40,000 employees work and more than 4,000 people live.
The purchase was made during the last quarter of 2022, becoming the third largest rental operation of those dates. It has transpired that IBM will pay Merlin a rent of 37 euros per month per square meter, in such a way that for the 10,490 meters allocated to its offices it will pay 4.65 million euros per year. Figures 8% above the prime rent of the offices in the capital.
The new building has 36,900 square meters and is undergoing a comprehensive reform for a value of 70 million euros. Together with IBM, other companies will be installed, such as loom and globantbeing a space for companies in the technology sector.
Azca has some of the most important international companies such as Banca March, BBVA, Deloitte or Intel, among others, as well as leisure companies such as the Moda Shopping Mall, a casino, the Canopy Hotel or El Corte Inglés. In addition, it is expected that during 2023 some 26 new office buildings will reopen, 15 of them within the M-30. Without going any further, during 2022, Azca and Salamanca-AU accumulated 15.5% of the contracting in the inner zone of the M-30.
The status of your split
The move from IBM is effected without Kyndryl, the company’s computer infrastructure services spin-off that will move to the Los Cubos Building, belonging to the Henderson Park fund, located at Albacete 5, near the M-30. In choosing this new location, both the property conditions such as the location close to Santa Hortensia, in such a way that the displacement of the employees was made as difficult as possible. To all this we must add the close proximity to the Adolfo Suárez airport.
The Los Cubos Building, built in the 70s as a revolutionary element, is equipped with an area of 19,250 square meters very bright and distributed in large floors of 2,083 square meters and 4,000 square meters of terraces and green spaces. The property has recently undergone a comprehensive rehabilitation that has provided the LEED GOLD sustainability certification.
Kyndryl’s staff is made up of some 3,000 employees that will adapt to a flexible modality that avoids mandatory attendance.
The buyer of the historic IBM building
Colonial breaks in with force in this new purchase in which it will merge homes with offices and which will continue the hybrid model already established in the construction of Madnum, in the Méndez Álvaro area. 323 million euros will be invested in it with estimated annual income of 25 million euros. Of the 90,000 square meters, 56,000 will be used for offices and another 5,000 for retail premises and real estate.
The Catalan promoter has experienced during the first quarter a significant increase in its rental or rental income by 11%until reaching 90 million euros.
